Seasons of Bleach
by AnimeFreak1123
Summary: Tsuki and the gang have returned in this short series of four one-shots centered on the usual happenings in each of the four seasons with a twist. Read as they take down odd Cherry Blossoms, visit a haunted mansion, race at the fall festival, and go to the World of the Living to have fun in the snow!
1. Spring Cherry Blossom Fiasco

**Bleach does not belong to me. All credit goes to Tite Kubo for creating such a wonderful universe and awesome characters. Tsuki, Takeo, Natsuki, and Kioku however, belong to me.**

"Hey Tsuki-chan, is this our spot?" Takeo Kishin, the older brother of Tsukiko Kishin, asked as he looked over his shoulder to confirm their picnic spot, but she wasn't there. He sighed and looked around the area, shifting the weight of the blanket and picnic basket he held.

Takeo, as mentioned before, is Tsuki's older brother and almost is the head of the Kishin Clan. He stands about six feet tall and has darkish brown ruffled hair that's black at the back of his neck with a few silver strands that hang loosely at the nape. His eyes are the shocking color of emerald green. He occasionally has a little stubble on his chin, like today, and he was wearing black loop earrings with a small red orb dangling from each of them.

Takeo serves nobly in the Court Guard Squads, fulfilling his duties in the seventh squad, but he wasn't wearing his shihakushô today. Instead, he wore a men's kimono that started darker blue at the lowest hem, fading to white as the blue went up to around his shoulders. Tied around his waist with a diagonal bow at the back was a dark blue – almost black – sash. On his feet were plain brown sandals without socks.

"Oi Tsuki! Where are you?" Takeo shouted out, wondering where exactly she went. He waited in the midst of the rustling cherry blossoms, watching the petals shed off of the flowers and fall gracefully to the ground to blanket it with a kind of pink "snow".

He waited five or ten minutes, watching as other people came to set up their picnic blankets and settling down before he decided to shout out once more.

"No need to call my name again, Takeo-nii." Tsuki stated as she emerged from behind a tree nearby. "I heard you the first time."

Tsuki is quite a few years younger than Takeo; with her being born while he was attending the Shinôreijutsuin. Therefore they hadn't officially met until much later. Even now the two of them were getting used to the whole sibling thing.

Tsuki is five feet, six inches tall with long brown locks and had small silver strands throughout. Her hair was tied up into a simple bun with silver ornaments, leaving out her bangs and two small bunches of pure silver hair in blue ribbon tubes. She wore one of each pair of her parents' earrings. On her right ear was her mother's earring; a simple gold loop with three two inch gold bars hanging from the loop. On the other was a deep blue loop earring – her father's earring.

She was currently wearing a light blue green colored kimono with lily pads and water lilies along the bottom and at the ends of her sleeves. Tied around her waist was a blue green sash, matching her eyes, which were the same color. She also wore sandals without socks.

After Tsuki had confirmed that their spot was where they were standing (their clan's symbol, which was a water lily, on a small sign in front of their designated cherry tree), the two started to set up. By this time, even more people had arrived and got ready for their day of relaxation.

"So where did you wander off to? If you don't mind me asking." Takeo asked Tsuki while they waited for Kioku and Natsuki Shimazaki to arrive, for they had decided to share a spot.

"I was wondering where the Kuchikis are going to sit." His sister explained, slightly blushing a light pink as she mentioned the name, thinking of her captain. "Then when I couldn't find their spot, I started on my way back here, but came across…a memory of the past."

Takeo gave her a questioning look, but decided not to ask to respect her privacy. Soon he saw the Kuchikis – and Renji – approach and pointed them out to Tsuki. She went over to help set up and also to chat with her friends. Turns out they were arranged to sit right next to Takeo and Tsuki, so everyone decided to combine their blankets and share their picnic lunches.

Rukia was wearing a lavender women's kimono with a purple sash.

Renji was wearing a dark red men's kimono with a red sash. He kept his hair up the same way as always with a long black stick and a dark maroon bandana around his forehead.

Byakuya was wearing a dusky blue men's kimono with a midnight blue sash. For once he didn't wear his hair ornaments today, as it was a day off to enjoy the blooming cherry blossoms.

"All this food looks so good!" Tsuki exclaimed after they had unpacked their picnic baskets. "And I can't wait to start drinking that peach flavored sake!" She was holding the bottle, looking like she was going to open it and take a sip.

"I think you should wait for Kioku and Natsuki to wait first before you open that." Takeo suggested casually.

Before Tsuki could protest, a male's voice interrupted saying, "You don't have to wait any longer because we've arrived." Everyone turned to see Kioku and his younger sister Natsuki standing nearby with their picnic basket.

Kioku Shimazaki is five feet ten inches with slightly messy light chestnut brown hair. His long bangs almost covered his peculiar colored eyes; the right eye is blue green and the other is a lovely shade of purple. He was currently wearing a darkish green men's kimono with a dark mint green sash that was tied in the back with a diagonal bow and light brown sandals without socks.

Natsuki Shimazaki is five feet four inches tall with long, blond locks. Her bangs slightly covered her face, and two small bunches of hair were running in rivers over her shoulders. Her eye colors were much the same as Kioku's, but one eye was just blue, and the other purple. She was wearing deep purple women's kimono with a light yellow sash and women's sandals.

"You two look great in your kimonos!" Tsuki complemented with a friendly grin as the Shimazaki siblings sat down and joined the group.

"You all look good too." Natsuki stated in reply, also returning the smile Tsuki gave. Soon all the food was unpacked and they started to eat and admire the beautiful cherry blossom trees.

"Wow! This cherry tart is so…tart!" Rukia commented after taking a bite of the small flaky cherry delight. "Did you make these, Tsuki-chan?"

"Yes, and they're just the right treat to go with these beautiful cherry blossom trees!" the younger Kishin sibling replied happily. "Even the peach tree at my house is as beautiful as ever in full bloom!"

"Well I thought it was pretty uncharacteristic of Captain Kurotsuchi to invent a few extra trees because of that huge hollow attack a few weeks ago." Renji commented while he looked around at the trees surrounding them. "You can't even tell the fake trees from the real ones."

"I wonder what motivated that crazy captain to make them…" Takeo pondered aloud.

"I don't even want to know, so don't tell me if you ever find out." Tsuki said as a matter of factly as she felt something brush the back of her neck. She looked over her shoulder and around the tree trunk to see if someone was hiding behind it and was messing with her, but no one was there.

She brushed it aside and continued to have fun, enjoying the cherry blossoms with her friends. That is, until she felt something sting the back of her neck.

Tsuki flinched, her eyes widening as she felt that something wasn't quite right with her body. Takeo was quick to notice that something was wrong and was the first to ask what was wrong.

"Sting….neck…." was all Tsuki could say breathlessly before she fainted.

"Tsuki! Tsuki wake up!" her older brother demanded with worry as he shook her a little before stopping and looking to the others. "What do you think happened to her?"

"Well there aren't any enemies behind because there are guards around to take care of that." Kioku stated with thought.

"And if we take the time to think about it, I believe she told us exactly what happened." Byakuya added calmly, turning Tsuki's neck ever so slightly to reveal a thin needle sticking out of the back of her neck. He pulled it out gently and examined it to see what it might have come from and what caused Tsuki to faint. "Something must have stung her."

"But what?" Kioku asked before the same happened to him. "Ow!"

This time though, Rukia saw what it was that stung Tsuki and Kioku. "Look! It's the tree that just stung Kioku!" Everyone looked and saw that there was a branch behind Kioku and now it was going for Natsuki.

"Quick! Get out of here!" Takeo shouted as he grabbed Natsuki and flash stepped out of the vicinity of the tree. Renji grabbed Kioku and Byakuya picked up Tsuki and they did the same along with Rukia.

As soon as Rukia got away from the tree, she looked around to see if the same was happening, and it was. Dotted here and there all around them people were getting stung by the trees causing confusion and terror.

She turned to her brother and the others and said, "I'll make sure the other people get away from the stinging trees."

"We'll figure out how to destroy it then." Takeo said in response before Rukia ran off to help the people in trouble. In the meantime, Byakuya and Renji laid Tsuki and Kioku side by side, while Takeo let Natsuki down to watch over them.

"How are we going to destroy a tree?" Renji asked curiously. "We don't have any axes and our zanpaku-tô might not be strong enough."

"We can try at least." Takeo replied with a smirk as he unsheathed his zanpaku-tô. "Besides, I've got fire on my side."

And so somewhat reluctantly, Renji used his shikai and so did Byakuya. As they went off to defeat other moving trees, Takeo stayed at the one he was in front of and shouted, "This is for hurting my sister and my friend! Burn them up! Hi no Muchi*!" He then flicked his sword quickly and it became a flaming whip. The handle stayed the same as it was before shikai was used, with red and orange bound around the hilt and flames on the guard.

But before he could attack the tree with his flaming weapon, Natsuki stopped him by saying, "Wait, Takeo! What if the fire gets out of control?"

Takeo turned back to Natsuki and smirked knowingly. "You don't have to worry about that with Hi no Muchi. See I can control his flames with my mind so I'll just be targeting the tree and nothing around it." Finally he flicked the whip towards the tree and it wrapped around the trunk of the tree until it set on fire.

As Takeo brought the whip back to him, the tree was almost consumed by flames and it was giving out a high pitched scream. All around, the same screams could be heard from Byakuya, Renji, and even some other soul reapers getting rid of the attacking cherry blossom trees.

"That was easier than I thought…" Renji commented after the battles were over as he stalked up to Takeo, holding his zanpaku-tô over his shoulder. "They didn't even put up that much of a fight."

"Indeed." Byakuya agreed as he did the same, but his zanpaku-tô was sheathed. "It was hard to destroy such beautiful trees, even though they attacked innocent people."

It was then that Natsuki approached the three men and said, "I've gotten all the people that were attacked together and pulled out their needles. I've examined them with the equipment I have on hand, but I can't heal them here. We'll need to transport them to Squad Four and do further analysis to heal them."

"Very well. Let's do so." Byakuya agreed before turning to the others gathered there. "Each of you, get an unconscious person and follow me to the squad four barracks."

Meanwhile in one of the many labs at Squad Twelve…

"Excellent. My experiment succeeded. Now all we need to do is shift the targets to hollows and plant them in the Rukongai…" Mayuri commented from his seat in front of many monitors, showing the various happenings in the Soul Society, one of them being the cherry blossom viewing. "Get to it Nemu."

"Yes sir." The ever faithful lieutenant stated in reply before leaving her captain behind to smirk and celebrate another successful experiment…

***Hi no Muchi simply means whip of fire in Japanese.**

**Here it is the first installment of Seasons of Bleach! I did want to submit this in the spring, but we were moving into our new house and getting things situated so I didn't have much time (or inspiration) to type. Lately though the words have been flowing out of me like crazy. Soon I'll be done with the summer one-shot and will be submitting that one too. Hope you enjoyed!**

**By the way, if you would like to see any of the OCs then the link to my deviant art profile is on my profile here on fanfic. Just head on over to my gallery and they're in my Bleach folder.**


	2. Scares at the Summer Mansion

""Can anyone tell me exactly why we're all taking a trek in the middle of the night in this creepy forest?" Tsuki asked aloud with slight contempt as she hugged herself tightly.

Despite the gruesome mission they were on, the night air was crisp and the sky was clear, with a full moon shining on the leaves of the trees surrounding them. All the people on the mission were wearing yukatas* of their favorite color.

"You're part of the reason why we decided to take this trek." Takeo commented from the front, holding up a lantern to lead the way. "Besides this mission is our duty." His little sister grumbled, remembering what had happened the other morning…

"…Then the old man turned and saw his deceased wife, the one who had been leaving the wrong flowers at her grave. Finally she opened her mouth and spoke. She said-."

"Hey you guys. What are you up to?" Takeo asked from the doorway of Byakuya's office, making Renji and Tsuki jump before they looked at him.

Tsuki turned to her brother and answered his question, "We were waiting for Captain Kuchiki to come back from a meeting so Renji was telling me a creepy scary story to pass the time."

Takeo put the pile of paperwork he had been holding on the desk – meant for the captain to go through and sign – before making his own comment with a smirk. "If you think that the story Lieutenant Renji was telling you was scary, you're dead wrong." – Renji made a disappointed frown at his comment – "I've got something scarier to tell you. And it's true."

While Renji mumbled under his breath that his story was true as well, Tsuki entreated Takeo to share his tale.

"Well okay… If you've got enough courage to hear it…" he stated with a mischievous grin on his face. "I've heard people say that there's an old mansion in the middle of the forest in the South Rukongai area. Many have wandered through the forest, and few have come back alive." – he paused – "And the few that wandered back into civilization, have never been the same again."

"That's just a folk tale!" Tsuki stated with disbelief. "No one believes that story!"

"But the evidence is real. What do you suppose could be the cause?" Renji asked her.

"I don't know. A hollow maybe?"

"A hollow would leave no traces of evidence like what we've found."

"Well….Well it could be something other than a hollow but I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes!"

"Then we can go out at night sometime soon and check out the mansion to see if it's real or just a story." Takeo suggested while crossing his arms.

"I'm up for it. How about you Tsuki?" Renji stated, all for going to the mansion and poking around.

Tsuki thought for a moment before giving her answer, but at that moment, Byakuya came in the room asking, "Might I ask what you are doing here preventing my subordinates from their work, Takeo?"

"I was just dropping off some paperwork from my division." Tsuki's older brother replied before heading to the door. "I'll just leave now. Vice-Captain Iba is probably wondering where I am."

But before he could leave, Byakuya said, "Hold on Takeo. Don't go yet."

The older of the Kishin siblings had a confused look on his face, but he went ahead and sat next to Tsuki on one of the couches there in the office.

"What's going on, Captain?" Renji asked before the other two had the chance to.

"We've been assigned a mission to go to the forest in South Rukongai and investigate the disappearances that have happened there." Byakuya informed them. Tsuki's eyes widened a little as she gave a surprised look at her brother before her captain continued.

"Taking into account what happened earlier in the spring, the team going to investigate will comprise of me, Renji, Tsuki, Kioku, Takeo, Rukia, and Natsuki, in case someone gets injured. I will give you all a week to prepare. Make sure you let Natsuki and Kioku know about this. You may go now Takeo."

"Right. I'll let Kioku and Natsuki know and I'll see you in a week." Tsuki's older brother stated before he left the office.

"Now we're all caught up." Takeo finished as they all came up to a clearing. "And we found the mansion."

It was huge, with six floors or more and looked like it was about to fall apart. Some shingles of the roof were missing and you could almost see through the holes in the walls if it wasn't for the darkness. Mold was also growing in places and the local vegetation seemed to have broken through the cement and grow where it wasn't supposed to.

"It looks like it's been here for ages." Natsuki commented, voicing everyone's thoughts at that moment.

"It has. I read in the report that apparently a wealthy nobleman used to live here." Byakuya informed the others as they all gazed upon the mansion in front of them. "He died a horrible death before he could ask his true love to marry him."

"That's horrible…" Tsuki commented with sadness.

"I agree." Kioku added with the same expression on his face. "How did he die?"

"The report didn't say." Byakuya replied. "There was no one nearby to hear and the attacker must have killed the owner and the servants."

"Well if we investigate we might be able to find out." Renji suggested and they all agreed, some a little more hesitant than the others.

"That's a lot to comb through though, considering that the building has six floors and possibly a basement." Rukia stated with thought. "It would take a while if we went in as a whole group."

"That's why I've decided to divide us up into three groups." Byakuya stated seriously, certain with his decision. "Natsuki, you'll be with Takeo, while Rukia and Renji will work together. Kioku and Tsuki; you are with me."

After they all teamed up, they went to different areas of the mansion. Natsuki and Takeo went straight to the top floor while Renji and Rukia investigated the middle floors. Tsuki, Byakuya, and Kioku started combing through the lower floors.

"Ugh… So much blood. And that stench!" Tsuki commented as they walked through the hallways and looking into the rooms as they passed. "Not even bones are left. What do you think wrecked this place?"

"A hollow is the most probable choice for this kind of situation." Kioku answered thoughtfully. "I just hope if it is a hollow that it isn't still alive and living here…"

"I just have a bad feeling about this…" Tsuki stated as she felt shivers going up and down her back.

"Tsuki is right." Byakuya said seriously before turning into a certain room. "There is something not right about this place…"

The other two followed and found themselves in a makeshift library and office. The room was quite big and a little roomy. A few bookshelves lined the walls and against the far wall was a slightly rotted desk with all the writing instruments askew on it. The books were all over the place and so were papers. This room did not have any blood in it, but it did smell of well-aged books.

"We'll find our information in here." Byakuya said as he gazed at a few books still in the book case in front of him. "Be careful handling the books."

The three of them started looking through the books and papers, trying to find any information that could tell them about the killer the disappearances, or both. While the men started looking through the books on either side of the room, Tsuki shuffled through the papers on the desk. After a few minutes of searching, she found something.

"Hey you two, come look at this!" she said loudly, reaching under the desk to pull out her find. "It looks like the owner's most recent journal and it's open to the day of the attack."

The two men came close and all together, they read the entry. It said:

'I fear as though my life is coming to a close end, so I shall leave these last words with you so that you may tell my love about my fate. Even as I write this I can hear the screams of my servants from the assailant's attacks. I do not know what it may be, but I pray that it will have mercy on me. I may not know how to use a sword, but I will use the one beside me to take my enemy down with me. I give my one true love all the best and….tell her I'm sorry.'

"So he took down the monster that killed everyone here?" Kioku asked after they had finished.

"Either that or they killed each other." Tsuki suggested.

"Or it killed him and left." Byakuya stated simply.

Suddenly they all heard a scream; Natsuki's scream to be exact.

"Natsuki!" Kioku shouted as he darted out of the room. Byakuya followed quickly after and then Tsuki followed, but she got all turned around and went the wrong way.

Finally she came into a small guest bedroom and found them on the other side of the room. But as soon as she entered, they exited through the other doorway. "Hey, wait!" Tsuki said as she continued to follow them.

Meanwhile Kioku and Byakuya caught up with Takeo and Renji in the middle floor.

"Where's Natsuki? What happened to her?" Kioku asked fiercely, worried for his little sister.

"I'm not sure but I think when my back was turned from her she fell through the floor because when I looked back all I saw was a hole in the floor." Takeo explained. "I ran to the floor underneath and couldn't find her."

"Weird…" Renji marveled as he scratched the back of his head and looked beside him. Realizing that Rukia wasn't beside him he looked to the other men in shock and continued, "Aw damn! Looks like Rukia has disappeared too."

"And I don't see Tsuki either…" Takeo commented with a frown. "What the hell is happening here?!"

"I might know why they disappeared…" Byakuya said slowly and thoughtfully. "Takeo, I believe you were telling Tsuki and Renji about the mansion. Do you know exactly who was disappearing?"

"Well, no. But I do know that women have been disappearing…" Tsuki's older brother stated before drawing off and realizing himself what Byakuya was onto.

"So whoever this is, they're after women." Kioku made the connection himself but something didn't seem to snap into place. "But why? Why did he take Tsuki, Natsuki, and Rukia?"

"I guess we'll find out," Byakuya said. "After we find a way into the basement…"

"Why would they be in the basement?" Renji asked bluntly.

"Don't you sense something down there?" Takeo asked the red headed lieutenant. "It almost feels suffocating. The enemy must be down there."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Kioku stated with determination. "Let's go and rescue the girls!"

The other men agreed and they proceeded to find the doorway to the basement. With a bit of time they finally found some kind of trap door in the floor of the kitchen area. They tried to get in but it was locked. At that time they all heard a symphony of the three ladies shout and that made Takeo all the more fired up, so he kicked at the slightly rotted trap door until it broke apart.

"Hey! Tsuki, Rukia, Natsuki! Are you down there?!" Takeo shouted down into the darkness of the basement.

No answer. All was silent as the men gazed into the hole, waiting for the ladies to respond. Finally Takeo said, "I'm going down there," before dropping down. The others followed, and as soon as they landed on the basement floor, they heard the faint sounds of conversation coming from farther back in the room.

The group of men slowly made their way quietly through what seemed to be some kind of storage room with boxes filled with a whole conglomeration of items. From tattered clothes to fermented food; this storage room had everything to keep a mansion going. Well, it used to.

The closer they got, the more they heard of the conversation going on.

"So, which one of you will become my wife?" a suave, handsome sounding voice could be heard asking the question. "You know you have no choice. I won't let any of you go until one of you agrees to marry me."

"Our friends will come to save us. Just you wait." They could hear Tsuki saying with determination.

"You are putting on quite the brave face young lady." The suave man said with interest apparent in his tone. "I'm feeling that perhaps you are the one I'll take for my wife. I do like my women a little feisty after all…"

"There's no way I'll let him marry my sister!" Takeo muttered under his breath before stalking forward to confront the enemy.

When he got to the back of the room he found Tsuki with Rukia and Natsuki behind her and right in front of her was a young man not too much older than he and Byakuya.

He was as tall as Takeo and quite handsome, with blond hair that fell to his shoulders and covered his left eye. He had red-brown colored eyes and a scowl on his handsome face. He currently wore a deep red men's kimono which was loosely opened, showing his chest with a dark red, almost black, sash tied around his waist.

"Oh dear. It looks like we've got some unwanted guests…" the young man stated angrily before drawing a sword out from nearby.

"Be careful Takeo. Something doesn't feel quite right about him." Tsuki warned her brother.

"Right." Her brother stated in reply as he drew out his zanpaku-tô. "You girls just get out of the way. I don't want to end up hurting you three."

The young ladies did so, standing beside Byakuya, Kioku, and Renji as they watched the duel start out. At first the two men circled around, before the young handsome man spoke.

"So your name is Takeo. It is very noble name." he said with a somewhat friendly smirk.

"Thanks, I guess. But what's with the complements all of a sudden?" Takeo replied reluctantly.

"Can't I be polite while we duel?"

"Yeah, but if you talk I'll be distracted. I don't like distractions…"

"Very well, but wouldn't you like to know my name?"

"Yeah, if you'll be quiet and duel me when you've introduced yourself."

"My name is Yajaku, and before we continue, I would like to make a wager."

At that moment, Kioku jolted with surprise and Natsuki noticed before asking her brother what was wrong.

"Yajaku… I've seen that name before." He said with thought before Takeo could talk.

"So what's this wager you're talking about?" Takeo asked the suave young man.

"If I win this duel, I get to have your sister…" Yajaku replied with a smirk.

"There is no way you can have Tsuki!"

"Then I guess you'll have to defeat me."

"Bring it on!"

And so they finally clashed, Takeo going in quick and fierce so he could prevent Tsuki from getting married to the suspicious but handsome Yajaku. While they were in the midst of battle, the name of Yajaku finally dawned on Kioku.

"I remember where I saw that name before!" he suddenly stated with realization.

"Where?" Natsuki asked.

"It was when Captain Kuchiki, Tsuki and I were searching through the books and things in the library." Kioku explained to all of them. "The name had been repeated over and over in copies of documents that I read in some of the books. I believe that's the name of the owner of this mansion."

"So that Yajaku there is the owner of this mansion?" Rukia asked as she put two and two together.

"But how could he live for so long?" Renji asked further. "The report was dated over a hundred years back and everyone's seen for themselves that no one can live in a rat hole like this."

"You there with the red hair." Yajaku suddenly stated as he and Takeo struggled against each other with their swords. "Don't you dare insult my home. It is still livable, with a little work of course."

"Oi pretty boy. Keep your eyes on your opponent." Takeo demanded with annoyance.

Yajaku glared at Takeo before he pushed the fierce male away with his sword. He then took the opportunity to take a slash at his enemy, who finally took a hit. He then smirked and slashed at Takeo again, but was blocked. Takeo then stood up and clashed with Yajaku once again, but Yajaku was somehow overwhelming Takeo. In one fell swoop he batted Takeo's zanpaku-tô across the room and had him on his knees.

"Looks like I win." Yajaku stated with his sword pointed at Takeo's face as he looked upon Tsuki. "And now I'll take you as my wife. Come with me. The rest of you may leave quietly."

"There is no way we're leaving without Tsuki!" Rukia shouted with defiance.

"And there is no way I'm going quietly with you!" Tsuki added as she drew her zanpaku-tô and stepped forward to defend her and Takeo. "I'm an independent woman and I choose whoever I want to marry."

"This is quite amusing." Yajaku stated with thought and a smirk on his face. "Very well. I shall let you defend yourself, but if I win this duel, you will definitely be coming with me."

"Fine by me." Tsuki answered as she stepped forward, giving her brother the opportunity to stand up and move out of the way.

As they were about to start though, something out of the ordinary happened. A fog rose from the floor and the temperature dropped. Then a whispering echoed throughout the room saying, "No, please don't go any further…"

"Who was that?" Tsuki amongst a few others questioned while they all looked around the room for the source of the voice. "Where's it coming from?"

Suddenly something like a pure white bubble of light floated out of Tsuki's chest and stopped in between her and Yajaku, making Tsuki collapse to her knees, still conscious. The small glowing orb then grew and formed into a young woman with a concerned look on her face.

She had much of the same features as Tsuki; the same teal colored eyes, same body structure, and even the same facial expressions. The only differences were that she looked older than Tsuki, had long flowing silver hair and she was wearing an elaborate women's kimono.

Upon seeing the woman, both Tsuki and Takeo said, "Mom?!" in unison with slight disbelief and shock on their faces.

The woman gazed at the two of them with surprise and then smiled warmly.

"Oh dear no. I'm not your mother." She said with her hand on her cheek. "I'm way too young for that. But I do see a bit of my sister in you."

"How were you in my body though?" Tsuki asked simply.

"That's easy. You're my reincarnation."

"How does that work?" it was Takeo's turn to ask.

"Well let's just say that I'm your mother's older sister."

"Enough of this talk!" Yajaku shouted suddenly. "Who are you woman?!"

The young woman frowned a little as she gazed at the young man. "Has your craving for vengeance clouded your eyesight?" she asked. "I am Himitsu Asatsyu. You pledged your love to me."

"Nonsense! When Himitsu died she never came for me. I loved her and she left me for dead!" Yajaku shouted with anger.

"I didn't leave you behind! I came for you when I died and you were too preoccupied with other things to greet me." The woman stated in reply, keeping her cool. "So I decided to leave and check on my sister. It was then that I was reincarnated as Tsuki. You looked for me but I was already gone."

"If you really are Himitsu my love…" Yajaku said, unsure of himself. "Then stay here with me forever."

"I cannot." Himitsu replied as if she did want to spend eternity with her love. "If I leave Tsuki she will die."

"How am I supposed to live on then?! Tell me that!" Yajaku asked with anger, as an aura of malice surrounded him. When she didn't reply, the aura grew and Yajaku began to transform into a monster. He became white in color, with a body that was grotesque but still slightly human. Finally some kind of white glop poured out of his eyes and mouth, forming a hollow mask over his face.

"You think that's the hollow that ravaged this mansion?" Takeo asked before grabbing Tsuki and jumping out of the way of the hollow's swinging arm.

"He must have eaten Yajaku then, and gave him the kind of personality he has." Natsuki added with some thought.

"That also explains some of the people not coming back alive." Kioku stated as he gazed at the hollow before him with slight shock and disgust.

"We must expel the hollow from him." Himitsu suggested from beside Tsuki. "Then he'll be himself again."

"I'll take care of that." Byakuya stated coolly as he drew his zanpaku-tô and brought it vertically in front of his face. "Scatter, Senbonzakura."

The blade shattered and became a thousand tiny blades, leaving the hilt in Byakuya's hand so he could control the flow of the blades. In a moment the blades attacked the hollow, shattering the mask and making the white body disappear to reveal the true Yajaku. He had a somewhat softer appearance to him and his hairstyle changed so the bangs didn't cover his right eye.

"There. The hollow is expelled." Byakuya stated while sheathing his zanpaku-tô.

"Himitsu…" was all Yajaku said as he extended his hand to her.

"As much as I want to go with you, I have to stay to keep my niece alive." His lover said to him with tears in her eyes. "I know we shall meet someday in another life."

Yajaku understood as he nodded with a sad smile on his face and he disappeared in a dust of shining glittery stuff. Himitsu returned to Tsuki and the group left the rotting mansion and walked into the horizon with the rising sun." Yachiru finished as the other shinigami women from the Shinigami Women's Association listened attentively. "The end!"

"A most beautiful story Yachiru-chan!" Isane complemented the young pink haired lieutenant's narrative.

"It would've been better if Lady Yoruichi was in it…" Soi-Fon stated with slight disappointment.

"What did you think, Tsuki-chan?" Yachiru asked as she turned to the third seat of squad six.

"It was certainly interesting Yachiru…" Tsuki replied hesitantly.

"I know!" Matsumoto suddenly said, startling some of the women. "We could type this up and post it on fan fiction!"

"That sounds like a good idea." Nanao said as she pushed her glasses up smartly. "It could give us a little more popularity."

"And we can do pairings like Tsuki and Byakuya!" Yachiru added with enthusiasm.

"W-Wait no!" Tsuki shouted as her cheeks went beet red.

***For those of you who don't know, a yukata is actually a summer kimono.**

**Another one-shot done, and not a moment too late. Fall is coming up close and I haven't even started on the fall chapter. I hope you can bear with me until I get it typed out. I'll be introducing a new character; Tsuyayaka or Yaya for short. Hope you look forward to it. Until then, enjoy!**


	3. Fall Festival

It was the middle of fall, and the leaves were raining down from the trees onto the streets of the Soul Society. The rich colors of red, yellow orange, and brown dotted the pathways along with the roofs of the many buildings. It was a warm sunny day; a perfect day for lazing about and napping in the sunlight, but the soul reapers were buzzing around doing their work for they were about to get a day of relaxation and fun. For at the same time, many others were planning a fall festival to celebrate all the hard work that everybody does.

"Hey, there's Tsuki-chan." Renji stated as the third seated officer entered the captain's office. "So what did your brother need?"

"He just wants me to help with something he volunteered to do at the fall festival." Tsuki replied as she set a report on the desk before Byakuya for him to look through. "He didn't tell me what I have to do…" – she paused – "and now I have a bad feeling about what I've gotten myself into…"

"That's what you get for signing yourself up for something you don't know you'll be doing." Byakuya stated simply as he signed some paperwork.

"Isn't Takeo planning some kind of competition or race or something?" Renji asked, slightly unsure.

"Yeah, this makes me wonder what he needs my help for..." Tsuki stated with thought before going back to work…

A couple days passed and then it was the day of the festival. The area was decorated with lights and paper lanterns and filled with bustling happy soul reapers in kimonos of many colors and patterns. Tented vendors dotted the whole place managed by volunteers selling the usual food and merchandise you would see at the usual Japanese festivals.

"It feels so good to relax and have fun once in a while." Renji commented as he took in the festive scene before him.

"Renji, you laze about all the time." Rukia remarked with a smirk, which earned her a scowl from the read headed lieutenant, which went ignored. "So where is Tsuki?"

"She said she would be helping out her brother…" Byakuya answered as his gaze shifted to the lone makeshift stage where some soul reapers were gathering.

"Let's go see what's happening over there." Rukia suggested as she turned to look at the stage as well.

Standing on the somewhat large stage lighted by some colored lights and a couple of stage lights was Takeo with a microphone in his possession.

"Gather around ladies and gentlemen, for the race is about to begin! Anyone can join in and it's free for all!" he said through the microphone to get more attention. "What is the prize you ask? Well it's this young lady right here!"

Tsuki emerged on the stage, wearing an angry frown and one of the most elaborate and royal kimonos a noblewoman could ever own. The kimono was various shades of blue with at least five layers and was tied with a snow white silk sash with various strings of beads wound around her waist. Her hair was done up in a half do bun and she had hair ornaments in the form of small chopsticks with beads hanging off of them.

"Why don't you smile for them, Tsuki?" Takeo commented as she crossed the stage to stand beside her brother, still frowning. "You'll chase off the participants with that frown on your face."

"I don't care." His sister replied sharply. "I never wanted to do this from the moment you told me."

"Well too bad. You agreed to help so here you are doing your part." Takeo told Tsuki off to the side before continuing. "Anyway the full prize is that you get to boss around my little sister for a whole week so step up and enter now!"

"So if I enter and win I can get Tsuki to do whatever I want for a week?" Renji asked half to himself with thought while Rukia gazed at Tsuki with sympathy saying, "Poor Tsuki-chan…" Immediately afterwards, Renji made his way to the ever increasing crowd of men lining up in front of the stage.

Byakuya said nothing as this happened but removed his kimono overcoat and handed it to his younger sister before following his lieutenant to the stage.

"Are you going to participate too, Byakuya?" Rukia asked with curiosity after receiving his overcoat.

He turned to face her and explained, "A week when Tsuki obeys is worth a lifetime if you are the captain of such a stubborn young woman," before continuing on his way to the stage.

"Now I really feel sorry for you Tsuki-chan…" Rukia stated half to herself before finding Natsuki standing next to the stage and going to join her.

"Oh look, we've got a captain joining in the race! There are also quite a few others participating. And with that, no one else can enter!" Takeo stated simply. "I'll just tell you some last minute rules and then we can start."

First of all, no kido or flash step. Along the course will be obstacles. You must finish the obstacle before going on with the course. Other than that, keep it clean. Now I'll just leave the rest to my fiancée Tsuyayaka."

With that, he put the microphone on the stand and jumped down to join the other men.

"Hey what are you doing down here?!" Renji asked with shock, voicing the other men's thoughts.

"Well you didn't think I would just sit back and let you compete for my younger sister without giving you a little challenge, did you?" Takeo replied with his own question. "You've got to get through me to win my sister."

Groans could be heard from some of the other men, but soon a woman emerged from the side and onto the stage. She was a little taller than Tsuki, making her five feet nine inches and she wore a purple and light golden yellow kimono. She had long straight black locks that went to her waist with her bangs parted on the right and had rainbow highlights here and there. She had violet blue colored eyes, but her bangs covered the left one. Her lips were pink with lip gloss, her eye lids were decorated with light teal eye shadow, and the corner of her visible eye was accented with black eye-liner.

"Thank you Takeo honey," she said with a silky voice and a smirk on her face before turning her attention to the group of men in front of the stage. "Anyway, we will start the race. Just follow the pathways and good luck!" – she walked away from the microphone, but came back to add something – "By the way, I'll be following the race and giving you a first person view from the various obstacles along the way. Also, video cameras are strapped to the trees so you'll be able to watch all of the action from this screen right here."

She then gave Tsuki her small gong and jumped into the air to the first obstacle. Once everyone was ready, Tsuki hit the small gong left her possession and the men ran off. At the head already was Takeo, neck and neck with Byakuya, and not too far behind was Renji and then a mysterious cloaked figure. Kioku was not too far behind them amongst a group of men that were doing better than most of the others that were way behind.

Tsuki gazed at Kioku as he passed by one of the cameras, remembering not long ago earlier when he promised that he would win and not boss her around. She blushed a little, knowing that there was someone in the race that she could trust fully.

However the person she pleaded with to enter the race, she wasn't so sure about. That person must have been the mysterious cloaked figure, because she was told that they would be in disguise.

"Sure I'll participate," the person's voice echoed in her mind as she watched the men racing by on the screen. "No doubt that Byakuya will be participating, so that will be fun…You just have to promise me something first…"

Tsuki blushed profusely, remembering the promise that she had to make and what she had to do if that person won the race. She gazed back at the screen once more and saw that Byakuya was winning so far, but at this point it was too soon to tell. The group of men were soon approaching the first obstacle…

Meanwhile on the track, Takeo and Byakuya were ahead of the others, going at a steady pace. It was then that the head of the Kuchiki clan decided to ask the question that had been burning in his head for a while.

"I understand that you joined because you want to protect Tsuki," he said to the young man running alongside him. "but are you not cheating because you volunteered to set up the race and therefore know what the obstacles will be?"

Takeo chuckled a little before answering with slight fear in his voice, "Actually…I left the obstacles to Tsuyayaka and some volunteers from the twelfth division to develop…" – he paused, then added – " Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that everyone will get through all of the obstacles alive. I just hope that Yaya-chan didn't go over board and did anything over the top…"

The two men rounded the corner and there was the first obstacle. Tsuyayaka was already there, standing on a pedestal to one side so she could get all of the action live on camera. Byakuya and Takeo stood there before the obstacle for a few seconds, taking all of it in.

It seemed pretty simple and easy to get through, for it was a sloping wooden pathway with the sides completely paneled so you couldn't see under it. Takeo was quite surprised by it all – because he thought that the obstacles would be something life threatening – but quickly followed as Byakuya started on the boarded pathway.

Once more men had started on the path, Tsuyayaka started her commentary for the viewers back at the festival.

"Hey there everyone and welcome to the first obstacle, as designed by my friends and I from the twelfth division!" she started with a light voice and a smile. "As you can see by this bird's eye view, this one is pretty simple. All they have to do is follow the sloped path to the end…" – she paused – "But this wouldn't be interesting if the men didn't have a challenge, now would it?"

She waited for a moment, watching the men go through the obstacle cautiously now that she had mentioned that there would be a challenge. Finally there was a shout as a gap suddenly opened in the pathway, causing a few men to fall through due to their momentum. Others stopped and tried to wait at the edge until the gap closed, but the men at the back were pushing so more fell in. Many gaps were now opening at other places along the path, and some men were gazing down into them, questioning what exactly was down there.

That's when Tsuyayaka started up her commentary again by saying, "So most of you may be wondering now what those gaps in the pathway could be. By closely observing, you can see that the gaps are opening and closing randomly, causing unsuspecting men to fall into them and therefore eliminate them from the competition. As to what's down inside the gaps…No one knows…"

She paused and turned the camera to the finish line of the obstacle, then continued, "And there goes Byakuya, finishing the obstacle in the lead with the mysterious cloaked man coming in close behind him, followed by Renji tied with Takeo and not too far behind is Kioku. Slowly men are starting to continue now, but it looks like the others are too far behind. Let's say goodbye to them now!"

Suddenly the whole pathway opened up and the last group that fell behind disappeared into the wide gap, unable to continue.

'Wow.' Tsuki thought back at the stage, watching everything. 'Yaya-chan has no mercy…'

Back at the racing path, the cloaked figure was catching up close to Byakuya and soon they were neck and neck. As he gazed over to the cloaked person running beside him, Byakuya sensed that he somehow knew them in some way.

Why was the person even cloaked? It was just a friendly competition. They had no need to cover up and hide their identity from the others…

As the captain continued gazing in wonder at his opponent, the cloaked figure turned its hooded face to him for a few seconds before darting ahead. Byakuya sped up to overtake the mysterious figure, and as he did, he realized something.

The cloaked figure had smirked at him from under their hood earlier! He had seen the bottom half of the face clearly. Not only that, but now he knew the cloaked person's identity!

'But why would she enter the race…?' Byakuya asked himself before coming up to the next obstacle.

"Oh, look. Someone's coming from around the corner and up to the second obstacle!" Tsuyayaka exclaimed with her camera focused on the first in the race. "It's the cloaked figure in first, followed by Captain Kuchiki in second, with Renji in third, and finally Takeo and Kioku are tied for fourth!"

Other men were slowly emerging after that. There were about thirty at most left, plus the first five already starting the obstacle.

This one was a little harder than the first, with it being a single long beam two feet in width standing about six feet over a pool of thick pinkish purple goop. There were also a few heavy lead spheres hanging along over the beam and swinging, just to make it more of a challenge.

"I hope you trained yourself in maneuvering exercises guys, because this is an ultimate test of those skills!" Yaya continued with a smile as the men inched slowly along the beam carefully. "Looks like the cloaked figure and Byakuya aren't having a problem about this one!"

And it was true, because none of the lead spheres even touched them as the two dodged them quickly and finished the obstacle in no time. The others, however, were having a more difficult time.

"Ooh that looks like an interesting method to go through, Lieutenant Renji!" Yaya commented while turning the camera to where he was.

The red head was about a third of the way through, hugging the beam and inching along to avoid the swinging lead spheres entirely.

"Unfortunately for you, that isn't the only height those spheres are swinging at~…" Yaya added with a teasing voice.

Renji looked up with confusion and surprise, managing to utter a "Wha-?" before getting knocked off the beam by a lower swinging sphere. The glop mad a satisfying squelching noise as the red-headed vice-captain fell into it, while the other men watching made disgusted faces at the scene before them.

"What the hell is this stuff?!" Renji asked with anger after trying to get up, only to slip and fall down again.

"It's a secret mass I've been testing for some time now to use against hollows and enemies." Tsuyayaka answered as a few other men lost their balance and fell into the goo after the lieutenant. "It was colorless, but Yachiru suggested this color to make it more appealing! What do you think?"

As the men were complaining and trying to get out, Kenpachi and Yachiru were having their own little conversation in front of the stage as they watched the race.

"Wow, it looks so pretty and so much fun to play around in!" the childish pink haired lieutenant declared with happiness from her perch on Kenpachi's shoulder. "What do you think Kenny?"

The captain of the eleventh division let out one of his menacing laughs before replying, "I could definitely use some of that to prevent Ichigo from running away the next time I challenge him."

"I miss Itchy. I wonder when he's gonna visit again…" Yachiru stated with slight sadness before something caught her eye. "Hey, Kenny! Baldy's found something interesting! Let's go check it out!"

With that the two left off to one of the booths while Tsuki thought to herself, 'What an odd duo…' before turning her attention back to the race.

By this time, Takeo and Kioku had finished the obstacle and were catching up to the others. Only five other men were left after many others had lost their balance and fallen into the goop. They were now all fast approaching the third and final obstacle.

Once the final ten had come up, they found themselves face to face with a whole field of hollows behind a closed gate. Standing in front of the gate was Tsuyayaka with her trusty video camera next to her.

"Congratulations and welcome to the final obstacle! Those of us from twelfth division that volunteered have worked long and hard to make this last obstacle the most challenging!" she stated before motioning to the field behind her. "As you can see, through these gates is a variety of hollow dummies you must defeat in order to win. There are one hundred in all, which gives you ten each to defeat. However," – she paused – "There is no set amount that you must defeat so the opponent with the most defeated hollows wins the whole race! Now get to it!"

And they were off, drawing their zanpaku-tôs – which were provided with at the gate – and dashing in headfirst to defeat some hollow dummies. The only one who didn't have a zanpaku-tô was the cloaked figure, but they made up for it by using hakuda techniques. That person was very fast, also making sure that their cloak didn't show anything that would give away their identity.

The other men continued, and one of them started using shikai on one of his enemies.

"Ah ah ah. No shikai use in this obstacle!" Yaya stated from her perch. "You're disqualified my friend!" – Suddenly the male shinigami was trapped by a cage that dropped over him – "This applies to the rest of you. If you use shikai or any kido you'll be caged!"

"You could've told us this before we started Yaya-chan!" Takeo commented close by while fending off a hollow with his zanpaku-tô.

"But it wouldn't be interesting that way, Takeo honey!" his fiancée stated with a pout. "Besides, I just did you a favor by getting rid of some of the competition!"

"I think you gave us all that favor…" Kioku stated half to himself after watching the couple's scene play out before him before striking down another hollow.

Soon the carnage was over and it was time to tally the scores.

"Okay, so two of you were disqualified for the usage of your shikai and a kido spell, but you defeated five each." Yaya stated at the stage, as she gazed at a clipboard with all the tallies on it. "The other lower scores had a mixture of one, five, three, and two." – she turned the page – "Takeo and Kioku each got fifteen, but Kioku collapsed of exhaustion and is now at the First Aid Tent recovering"

'That means Byakuya and that person are tied or…' Tsuki thought anxiously from her place on the stage.

"Well this is a surprise. Looks like the winner got ahead by only two hollows!" Yaya continued before walking over to where the two contestants at the top were. "And that person is…" – she paused for a while, which seemed like forever – "the mysterious –!"

Suddenly she was interrupted by the action of the cloaked figure taking off their cloak to reveal…

"Yoruichi?!" everyone but Tsuki exclaimed as they saw the infamous purple haired Flash Master standing there with a smirk on her face.

"Hey there." She said lightly. "Since I've won, I guess I've got Tsuki for a week." – she turned to the third seated officer of squad six – "You remember what you promised, right?"

Before Tsuki could answer, Takeo stepped in saying, "Hey, was Yoruichi entering the race even allowed?!"

"I don't see anything wrong with it." Yaya commented with a straight face. "We didn't say anything about women not being able to join and she didn't cheat or anything."

"Well, I guess Yoruichi is the winner!" Takeo announced after an awkward minute of silence.

"It's been fun!" Yoruichi stated with a smile. "Wouldn't you agree, little Byakuya?"

The captain of squad six said nothing, for he was annoyed that the woman he so loathed had not only defeated him, but she had tricked him too! Without another word, he stalked off the stage and possibly back to the Kuchiki manor. Rukia soon followed.

"I'm curious. Where are all of the men that fell into the gaps and the weird goo?" Tsuki asked when all was said and done.

"Oh, some volunteers from squads four and twelve are taking care of them as we speak." Yaya answered with a calm smile. "They all should be well enough to work tomorrow."

"Promise you'll take care of Tsuki and not make her do nasty things?" Takeo asked the winner seriously.

"Of course. All I want her to do is one thing." Yoruichi answered casually. "After that she's free as a bird."

The very next day Tsuki and Yoruichi were standing atop the wall before the window to Byakuya's office.

"I don't know if I can do this Yoruichi…" the third seat stated nervously while blushing.

She was currently wearing a baby blue ornamental kimono that went to her knees with a dark blue sash and gray cat paws on her hands and feet. On her head was some grey cat ears and tied around her waist was a grey cat tail. She was also wearing a cat bell around her neck.

"Come on, you promised remember?" the purple haired woman said from beside her. "It's either that or extensive training for a whole week…"

Meanwhile inside the office, Renji had come in and was looking through the window for a few minutes.

"Uh, captain," he said hesitantly. "There's something odd going on outside…"

"Just play along Renji…" was all Byakuya said in response.

**And there's another one under the belt! Just one more to go and I'll be finished! There were a lot of edits and a little bit of a writer's block, but I got through it. I have a rough draft (somewhat) for the winter chapter written out, so hopefully I'll be able to get that down faster…**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy! **


End file.
